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Handicap main winner John Volk leads Kevin Hugill at V isa lia. Volk, Robinson share Visalia wins By Jerry Parsons VISALIA, CA, JUNE 12 Buddy "Bud Man" Robinson was finally forced to chair as he .sp lit wins with John Volk tonigh t after . along period of dominance on the Visalia Auto Plaza track. Volk was quick to .grab an early lead in the Handicap main from the 10. Kevin Hugill was hanging close by Volk's side before hewent 'down on lap two. Grant Salyers was moving up fast from the 30 as he took Hugill 's spot for second. Third position was being held tight by hot riding Randy Blevins. Sal yers and Blevins were soon heavily battling it out. as Blevins moved into th e runner-up spot. Tom Ferris was running a close fourth behind Salyers. Volk held his lead to take the win. Blevins took home second with Salyers and Ferris earning the third and fourth spots. Salyers, riding his second -main of 'th e evening, blasted off the line to grab the Scratch main holeshot. Robinson and Ferris, both side' by side, were riding hard for Salyers. The " Bu d Man" soon won out as he ja m med underneath Salyers to take th e lead, leaving Salyers with the runner-up spot. Duane Yarrowwas also making tracks as he fough t for th ird with Ferris. Ferris was quick, but Yarrow made his move and took over. Robinson continued to style his way around th e course as he put another' win under his hat. Salyers tied up second with Yarrow pulling in third. Ferris followed for a close fourth spot. ~ Leduc, Orlandisplit Auburn wins By Jann Houston AU BU RN; CA, J U N E 18 From th e way J oe Leduc and his p ick-up truck ',' smoked" into the sign-in area at the Gold Country Fairgrounds tonight, it seemed some kind of miracle that they made the nearly 100-mile trip from the San Fra n cisco Ba y area , at all. The th ought came to mind that hopefully, his speedway machine was running a whole lo t better. It was . The bike and J oe were in top form. After wi n n in g. h is Handicap hea t and- semi events, coming into the main event, Leduc put tight pressure on Ron Sweeton, who was in th e lead for the first two laps, with Pat Linn a dose third. In tum three on the third lap, Sweeton did a- Uta-degree tum, ' which ended his race, throwing Buddy Robinso n into th e wall in turn four. Leduc took the lead at this point, Linn was second, and Dennis R obin son moved into third. Coming around tum two on the fifth lap it was anybody's guess; Linn and Leduc were leaving each other no room for error. At the checkered flag, it was ·Leduc by inches, followed by Linn, Dennis Robinso n , John Volk and Buddy Robinson. In the Scratch main, Dennis Robinson, 198i northern California Champion, shot into the lead. In tum three on lap two, Orlandi got past Robinson on the outside to take the lead. Robinson continued to hold onto the second spot until turn one on the third lap when he lost contro l for a moment as Yarrow bounced 'off his back tire, unable to avoid contact. Robinson's race was finished. Orlandi grabbed the checkered flag for ' the victory lap, Buddy Robinson was second, Dennis Robinson was ruled third by the referee , and Yarrow settled for fourth . In the Second Di vis ion main , Dennis Davis was im p ressive as he took, his first class win, taking the lead from Ken Gray on lap three. ' Kevin Hugill was second, followed by Steve Crawford. Jim Bren ner made it two consecutive Third Division wins. Tom Brenner, Jim's brother, was second, and Elmer McCleary was third. Fifteen-year-old Bart Bast, 1981 Junior Champion, tallied up a. perfect score .for the' evening, winning both Junior heats , and the Junior main. Scott Brant was second in the main, and newcomer Darrell Anderson looked like anything but as he claimed third. Remember, NorCaI fans and riders - Napa opens on July 17! Results HANDICAP MAIN : 1. Joe Leduc; 2. Pat Linn; 3. Dennis Robi nson; 4. Jo hn Volk; 5. Buddy Robinson ; 6. Ron Sweeton. SCRATCH MAIN : 1. Paul Orlandi; 2. Buddy Robin· son; 3. Denn is Robin son; 4. Duane Yarrow. SECOND DIV: 1. Dennis Davis; 2. Kevin Hugill ; 3. Steve Crawford. THIRD DIV: 1. J im Brenner; 2. Tom BrenMl r; 3. Elmer McCleary: JR SPDWY: 1. Bart Bast; 2. Scott Brant; 3. Darrell Anderson; 4. Bobby Hedden; 5. Mike Parson; 6. Coors Wright. ' Mclain wins one on .hom e track (Ventura) By Bill Locey VENTURA, CA, JUNE 22 "I was hungry, " said Bobby McLain of Fillmore - Ventura County's lone First Division rider. Unlike last season o whe n he made th e mains nearly each week, McLain h as been s truggling this year. Bu t he can afford to eat now after winning the Scra tch main before 2,000 fans tonight at Ventura Raceway. McLain won four of his six rides, including a victory over the awesome Mike Faria in the last race of the night. And Warren Diem became the first rider to take back-to-back H a n dicap mains since Dave Miller turned the unlikely trick early last year. Diem was convincin g off the' 10-yard line, winning all three of his ri des. Besides all the speedway fans , nearly all of the riders showed up as several p remature cases of Po ints Paranoia were diagnosed. Ventura may be far away, but those points,count just as much as anywhere else. Andrt was an exciting night of racing right away. Fa ria came out of nowhere to pass two riders in the final to earn the final transfer in the initial Handicap hea t. Diem won by plenty. Then Shawn McConnell hot stuff up here - entertained his growing legion of fans and his sponsors - Bell Helmets and Vans - by passing everyone off the back yardage spot to win the heat. In the final heat, Aussie rider Neil Webb went down in tu m four right in front of Mcl.ain, who slammed into him, and Keith Larsen, who laid it down. On the , restart (wi thou t Webb), McLain began picking off riders one by one, saving Tim McCasland for th e final lap. Diem and McLain came back to win th e semis. In the main Den n y Scopellite off . the zero had everyone bottled up like a drain before Drano until the final go- 'round. A turn two bobble was costly. '. ' and how. Four riders Diem , Jeff Tomlin , ' McLain and McConnell - all whizzed past. Diem . crossed the line first , followed by Tomlin. McConnell passed McLain in the final tum for th ird. . As he was off the zero , Diem is just too good for the IO-yard line. Until h e reaches the do-or-die marker - th e 30-yard line - Diem should continue to dominate and make money. When he reaches the' 30, he still.may keep winning; it'll be in terestin g to see what happens with this talented rider. . The Scratch main was anybody's race. ' In getting to the Final Four, Rick Miller had already beaten MeLain, and McConnell was unbeaten, in cl udi n g a win over Faria. Miller outgated everyone in the main, but Faria pulled even on the outside in tum two , with McLain a hair behind. Bu t as Miller was busy keeping Faria' . in his place around turn four, "Insane" McLain p assed them both on the inside with a nifty move and was gone. McConnell got by Faria and finished second. "The track wasn't sticky, and I could back it in ," . exp lained McLain after his win. He sure did. . Chris Mistretta, after winning his heat, was winning 'the Second Division main until a flat tire ruined his even in g . Ron Blanton took it from , there and did win the main for the first time since last August. Last week 's winner, Chris Reich ard t, applied last lap, too late pressure and was second. Ventura local Mike Coniglio was fifth . Robby Stone, after coming close in the last week or so, won his heat a nd th e Third Di vision main wi th some flawless riding. County riders John Aitken, Mike Dyer and 'Bob Moore finished 2-3-4. . Results , , SCRA TCH MAIN: 1. ~ Mcl8in; ~ Shhm McConnell; 3. M ike Faria; 4. Rick M iller. HANDICAP MAIN: 1. War ren Diem; 2. Jeff Tomlin; 3. Shawn McConnell; 4. Bobby Mclain; 5. , Denn y Scopell ite; 6. Steve Lucero , SECOND DIV: 1. Ron Blanto n; 2. Chris Reichardt; 3. Chris M ist rett a; 4. Scott Talkingt on; 5. M ike Coniglio; 6. Keith Rylance. THIRD DIV: 1. Robby Stone ; 2. John A itken; 3. M ike Dyer; 4 . Bob Moore; 5. Kenn y Hansen; 6. Bantley Barre tt . MATCH RACE: Rick M ille r def . Guy Ermo lenko. Christian, Ermolenko provide IMS excitement By Scott Dalosio SAN BERNARDINO, CA, JUNE 23 Alan " Crazy" Christian survived a crash-filled ni gh t and rode the STP Godden to victory this evening in the Scra tch main at John LaDouceur's Inland Motorcycle Speedway. ' Da ve Sims (Michael's Lapidary Godden) became the initial leader on the start from the pole position over Christian, who was coming from the number two spot, and outside starter Michael Bast (J ustice Brothers / Knobby Shop Jawa ). Bast got pushed to the outside in tum two and dropped to the back of the pack as h e fought -h is way out of the heavy stuff. Christian sta yed on the outside of Sims and relieved him of the lead sp ot at the end of lap one. After getting out of th e gate last, Mike Faria (Cody Products/Oakl ey Goggles Jawa ) began making up ground and took Sims for second at th e start of th e.third circu it. Faria set hi s sigh ts on Christian and almost got by as they exited turn four on the third lap, but " the big guy" prevailed. Fa ria sta yed close but was forced to settle for second as Christian picked up h is second win of the season . Guy Ermolen ko (G aston & Dillon Jawa) started on the 10 and led from the green to the che ckered to scorehis fir st ever IMS H andicap win. Errno- . lenko beat Denny Scopellite (H o t Moves Weslake) on the start. Rick Millet (Eclipse/Off Shore/JT. Racing Weslake) sta rt ed on the 20 and moved up to second when Scopell'iie wheelied a t the end of lap one. Ermolenko was counting his money by the end of lap two while Miller had to fight off 30-yard-line starter Sims for (he final three -la p s to finish second . Dim Bovee (O' N ea ls 7.6 Jawa) turned in a flawl ess ride to claim his initial IMS Second Division main of the season. 'Kenny Bencheck (Weslake) took the lead on the start from th e zero over 10-yard liners Mark ' Wea ver (Jawa) and Bovee. Bovee rode the outside to tak e second from Weaver -a n d the lead from Bencheck by the end of lap one. Bencheck pulled back a lorigs ide the 23 year-old from Bloom in gton but was unable to reclaim the lead. Pat Hawley (Terry 's Waterbt;ds/MMHLM Speaker Co. Godden), coming from the 30, moved from the back of the pack and took second from Bencheck when they made contact 'in tUl;n one on lap three. sending Bencheck to the dirt. Hawley had to settle for second as he was able to close but not pass Bovee in th e remaining two and a half laps. Mark Granberg (Frog House Jawa) stayed away from ' the trouble an d scored h is first win in IMS T hird Division action on his seco nd trip to the pop u lar so uthern California track. Granberg passed first n ighter and exCMC Pro motocrosser Will Harper (Weslake) on lap three and then held off impressive looking Mark Dwyer (Jawa) over the final lap to record the victory.